News: Pelikan Hubs 2017

It’s that time of year again, time for Pelikan to announce their fourth annual Pelikan Hubs event. Each year, the Hubs event has grown in attendance and I’m sure that the 2017 festivities will prove to be no different. Pelikan Hubs 2016 took place in at least 109 cities spread across 37 countries with roughly 2600 fans registered to attend. That represents nearly a 51% increase over the prior year! For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the Hub event is a shared gathering of Pelikan fans from across the globe. The event is facilitated for fans by fans with Pelikan acting in a supporting role. While these gatherings take place in 30+ countries, each Hub occurs at the same date and time locally. For those who cannot attend, each Hub is encouraged to upload photos to their favorite social media sites with the hashtag #pelikanhubs. There is no agenda and anything that the group can imagine is fair game ensuring that no two Hubs are quite alike. I have had tremendous fun over the past three Philadelphia events and the diversity of attendees adds to the wonderful dynamic. Participants have ranged from novice to expert and those looking for their first Pelikan pen to those with hundreds. Hubs get selected based on a pool of online applicants. A minimum of five people are required to make a hub and you can nominate your city when signing up. Hubs will be chosen sometime around July 12th. Once the cities are selected, a Hub Master is chosen (by application) to act as the local point of contact and organizer who designates a centrally located meeting space in the appointed city. After that, all that is left to do is to gather and enjoy each other’s company.

Pelikan Hubs 2017 will take place on Friday, September 22, 2017 at 6:30pm local time. Online applications are now being accepted through July 17th. That deadline is a few weeks earlier than last year. If you have even a remote interest, it’s best to sign up now to ensure that you don’t miss the deadline and to ensure that your city reaches a critical mass of participants to qualify for a Hub. There is no penalty for not showing up. It appears that Pelikan is using a menu of pre-selected cities during registration which is likely based on participant data gathered over the preceding three years. Fret not though if your city is not listed. If there is no matching Hub for you, you can suggest a new location though Pelikan stipulates that the nominated city must have a population of at least 100,000. If you think that you’d like to be your Hub’s master, there is a separate space with a fill-in box on the application but you must get your name in the running by July 12th. Once your registration is submitted, Pelikan will send you an e-mail confirming your details. You don’t have to be a fan of Pelikan to appreciate a good pen so make sure you get the word out to all of your friends. For your reference, I’ll include a list below of the cities that were selected for 2016’s event. One thing that I’d again like to stress is that each participant should register so if you have a friend or spouse that you would like to bring along, make sure that they also submit an application (makes it easier for the hub master to arrange for an appropriate venue). In keeping with prior years, the color scheme used in this year’s banner matches Edelstein Smoky Quartz, the 2017 Ink of the Year which will likely play a prominent role in the event.

One more thing about Pelikan official communication. They sent the announcement to me just 4 days before the event. I missed last years event but was there the year before. The Twin Cities has a healthy group of Pelikan collectors and I am very disappointed that Pelikan Headquarters is so disorganized.

Joshua,
Thanks for your continued interest. I hope you continue as our local “guru” ; I only have one Pelikan, The Pelikan Souveran M800 Grand Place but it is one of my favorites! The main reason I don’t own any more is that Pelikans seem to have established themselves at a higher price point than their competition without a USP (Unique selling proposition) and I have a hard time convincing myself to buy any more, especially with the very limited number of colors,and variety. Even the new M800 Renaissance Brown is such a close match to the Grand Place its hard to justify purchasing one. I keep hoping for a style or color combination that I can justify spending the monies on, but so far, other than the Grand Place, I haven’t seen anything that peeks my interest and has me reaching for my checkbook.
Your articles have been the only think that has kept me interested in the Pelikan name.
Keep up the great work and maybe they will listen to you more.
See you at the Hub meeting
Jim Kelly

Thanks for your insight Jim. The one thing that I’ve found to be a certainty is that Pelikan offers a fair number of new models each year so, sooner or later, one that catches your fancy and wallet is going to hit the market. Just seems to happen to be too often for me. See you at the Hub.

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